Pikmin 4 has launched with a strong start in Japan, with sales of 401k boxed copies over its first week on sale.

To put that into context, this is better than the total boxed sales of Pikmin's three previous Japanese launch weeks combined: with 101k sales for Pikmin 1 and 161k first week sales of Pikmin 2 - both on the GameCube - and 92k first week sales of Pikmin 3 on Wii U.

These numbers from Japanese sales company Famitsu (via VGC) paint a rosy picture, although the comparisons here come with caveats - for instance, that Switch has a far higher userbase than either GameCube or Wii U - and this game has seen heavy promotion in Japan in particular.

Still, it's also a significant step up in sales even from the Switch re-release of Pikmin 3, which shifted 171k copies at launch.

Here in the UK, Pikmin 4 boxed sales have been closer to those seen in previous entries, chart data seen by Eurogamer suggests - although being physical game sale data only gives an incomplete comparison, and the actual total will be somewhat higher.

Nintendo has yet to announce any Pikmin 4 sales results itself.

In Eurogamer's Pikmin 4 review, I discussed the game's clear focus on bringing fresh players to the franchise's often overlooked blend of cute visuals but stimulating strategy.

"It may start slow, but when it all comes together, it really does sing," I wrote. "Is this Pikmin's true breakthrough moment? Who knows. But without a doubt it's one of Nintendo's best games in years."